


Through The Glass

by theblasphemouscontessa



Series: Outside Looking In [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Underhill's name is James, accepting prompts/suggestions, outside pov, retelling of canon events through gossip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 21:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18106784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblasphemouscontessa/pseuds/theblasphemouscontessa
Summary: "While you're outside looking in describing what you see remember what you're staring at is me"Canon events retold through gossip. None of the speaking characters were in the room where it happened. An exploration of what things looked like to the rest of the Shadowworld.Chapter 1: Alec Lightwood's non-wedding as discussed by people who never met him and heard about it third hand





	Through The Glass

**Author's Note:**

> Accepting prompts and suggestions for events you want gossiped about and characters you want gossiping only rule is no eyewitness accounts only a lot of "he said she said".

It was a Wednesday. Maybe. At least James thought it was, he hadn’t looked at a calendar - or a clock - in long enough that he couldn’t actually be sure about that. James Underhill was pretty low on the roster at the Las Vegas Institute which meant he hadn’t had a day off in a very long time. Not that the Institute Head had many days off either, really only the mid-level Shadowhunters were senior enough to get preference for time off but also unimportant enough to not get called in anyway. And Las Vegas was a busy city. The Shadowworld wasn’t as active as New York or Paris or its local mundane counterpart maybe there were more easy targets for demons but Downworld kept to their vices without outright breaking the Accords or mingling with Shadowhunters. This meant a lot of long patrols and undercover missions at the multitude of clubs and casinos but no real justification for a relief staff.

So yeah, it was probably Wednesday but James wouldn’t put money on it. If he knew how fundamentally his worldview would be shifted James Underhill probably would have taken a look at a calendar but he was hungry, tired, and still had several hours left at his post when he heard the latest gossip from Idris. Or New York. Whatever. 

“Did you hear about Lightwood?” One of the medics asked her friend. Said medic was leaning against James’ desk to face her friend who was glaring at a similar display nearby. 

“What? The wedding right? Rush affair,” the other Shadowhunter commented absently. “Let me guess, shotgun wedding?” 

“No!” The medic squealed and leaned in, a sure sign that she had something juicy to share. “He left his bride at the altar,” she paused for dramatic affect, “for a warlock. A _male_ warlock.” She grinned sharply at her friend’s surprise. “Kissed him right there in the hall. In front of the angel and everyone.” 

Before he even knew what he was doing, James cleared his throat to ask, “what did they do to him?” He didn’t think Lightwood would be deruned, it wasn’t _technically_ illegal but that didn’t mean his family wouldn’t make him disappear. There were rumors of course, the Shadowworld ran on rumors, stories of nephilim forced into hasty marriages to save a family’s reputation or sequestered in Alicante, even a few suspiciously timed accidents or heroic demises with very public though short mourning periods. That’s what happened to Shadowhunters - they conformed or they vanished and the elite in Idris were very good at making inconvenient relatives disappear. 

“Oh! Hi, Underhill,” the medic jumped like she hadn’t even known James was there. “That’s the thing, nothing! The eldest Lightwood is dating a Downworlder and they’re just going to let him. I heard from my cousin who was there that his parents weren’t happy about it but they didn’t stop him or anything.” 

James’ fellow security officer scoffed at that. “Well yeah, he’s a Lightwood, they get away with everything.” 

“You’d think being such a big deal would make doing something like that even harder,” James countered with maybe a little more heat than strictly logical for an unaffected third party. 

“I mean, I guess it’s kind of romantic,” the medic allowed but she seemed to lose interest now that she knew no one would join her in speculation. “Whatever, you know what they say about lying down with dogs, but then again that sort of thing does run in the Lightwood family doesn’t it.” She laughed meanly before returning to her post. 

So it was probably a Wednesday when James Underhill heard the first story about an openly gay Shadowhunter who was if not accepted then at least tolerated. And a thought started niggling in the back of his mind. Oh James was under no illusions, he knew he didn’t have the prestige, standing, name, or close knit family to protect him that Lightwood did but at least he wasn’t alone. At least he wouldn’t be the first. 


End file.
